Vancouver police are investigating the stabbing death of a 15-year-old Surrey boy, who died Sunday morning following a violent altercation near Robson Square.
“Vancouver police investigators have been working non-stop to secure evidence, identify witnesses, and find the person, or people, responsible for this murder,” said Sgt. Steve Addison in a statement.
“There may be people in the community who have knowledge or information that will solve this crime, and we’re asking them to come forward," Addison said.
Police believe the victim was stabbed shortly before 11:40 p.m. July 19, near the Vancouver Law Courts at Smithe and Hornby streets.
The incident happened shortly after the Celebration of Light fireworks ended.
A passerby called 911, and police located the injured boy on Hornby Street.
Officers and other first responders provided emergency first aid but the boy died in hospital early Sunday morning.
Investigators from VPD’s operations division, forensic identification Unit, and major crime section have been working to collect evidence from the crime scene, to learn more about what led up to the homicide, and to identify anyone responsible, Addison said.
Anyone with information or dash-cam footage from the area bounded by Georgia Street (north), Smithe Street (south), Howe Street (east), and Hornby Street (west) between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, are asked to call VPD's homicide tip line at 604-717-2500.
Addison said people driving through the area with dashcams may have evidence and not know it.
He said investigators spoke to a number of people present at the time who have provided information.
Police are not releasing the victim’s name at this time.
Addison said police are working to determine if the teen had been at the Celebration of Light fireworks and if he was alone or with others.
Similar crime
The case echoes a similar one where the victim was found close to the same spot in May 2024.
There, a 19-year-old who stabbed another 15-year-old teen in the chest, leaving him in need of care for the rest of his life, was sentenced to six years in prison.
The victim’s mother told Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris March 31 that her son and family had been handed a life sentence as a result of the Granville Street attack.
After the May 26, 2024, attack, the victim was resuscitated several times and suffered brain damage.
Ezekiel Ezekiel Okumu pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on Oct. 16, 2024.
On June 26, 2025, the judge said the mother earlier told the court her child’s future had been ripped away, and the family “broken beyond repair.”
Harris said the victim, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, sustained “catastrophic, life-altering injuries from which (he) will never recover.”
